


Tell me you love me, come back and haunt me

by Tdtori



Category: Marvel (Comics)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-17
Updated: 2015-03-17
Packaged: 2018-03-18 06:41:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3559946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tdtori/pseuds/Tdtori
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One of them dies, the other can see ghosts au<br/>“So, how exactly…do I know you?” That was what she was most confused about. The fact that she should know who this ghost was. As if it was her best friend or a lover.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tell me you love me, come back and haunt me

James Barnes dies on a rainy Tuesday, not that that name meant anything to Natasha Romanova. To her it was just another obituary that she saw when she was reading the paper in some hole-in-the-wall coffee shop that sold too watery of tea.

It wasn’t until a few days later when she noticed something weird going on in her apartment. She would wake up to find some of her things in different places than where she put them the night before. A gun on her night table would move to the kitchen counter. A shoe in her closet moved to the chair in the living area. 

So, she changed her locks and set up a few security measures, but she would still wake up to find things scattered over her apartment.

It wasn’t until a week later when she came back from a job when she saw the faint figure of a man, a man with what looked like a metal arm, in her living room. Before that Natasha would swear that nothing could scare her. She was fearless. Had faced death and even that didn’t scare her. But seeing something that one could only describe as a ghost was frightening. 

“What the hell is going on with me…” She muttered to herself, rubbing her eyes and blaming it on a lack of sleep. It was the only rational answer. 

But all rationale flew out the window when the ghost replied to her. “You can see me?” And she had been right, it was a man. 

“No, no, this is not happening. Ghosts…whatever I’m seeing, don’t exist!” It was her mind. Her mind had always betrayed her. Ever since she was first brainwashed. Her mind always played tricks on her. Made her believe in false memories. Made her think she was seeing things. Or hearing things.

“Except, I’m here. In your apartment.” The man replied, still standing (or floating) there in her living room. 

Natasha poured herself a drink and shot it back, not that alcohol would help the situation at all. “Okay, then riddle me this. Why would I see a ghost, or whatever, of someone I don’t even know?” 

The man tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure you don’t know me?”

“I’m having a conversation…with a ghost.” She laughed and shook her head. “I don’t know you. Maybe a name would help.”

“James Barnes.”

It was the name she had seen in the obituary last week. And now here he was in her apartment acting as if they knew each other. “The name doesn’t ring a bell, except for the fact I saw it in the paper last week. But I have no idea who you are.”

And then he was gone. 

Natasha wasn’t sure if she had imagined the whole thing, but it felt too real for it to be a fake memory. Still she blamed it on the lack of sleep and stress before going to bed.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The next morning when she woke up she knew that he was here. She could feel something different about the air in her apartment. 

James was in her living room as if he had been waiting for her to wake up.

“So, I’m assuming that you…are real. That I’m not just imagining this?” Natasha sighed as she went to make some coffee, almost offering James some before realizing that he wasn’t actually alive. 

He nodded as if he wished that he could’ve remained unseen. That all he wanted to do was watch over her. Like a guardian angel. 

Once she had her coffee she sat down in an arm chair by the window. It was raining again. “So, how exactly…do I know you?” That was what she was most confused about. The fact that she should know who this ghost was. As if it was her best friend or a lover. 

James paused and it took him a few minutes before finally saying something. “You aren’t going to believe me.”

“Really?” Natasha raised an eyebrow. “I’m talking to ghost in my apartment. I’m sure I can handle whatever you’re going to tell me.” What could it possibly be anyways? She tried to remember who he was. Tried to think of faces that she saw. What if it was just someone she saw in a coffee shop before? What if this man was overreacting on how much they knew each other? 

That seemed much more likely then them actually knowing each other. It was the only explanation she had.

James sighed, then laughed as he shook his head. “You’re going to say I’m crazy-“

“Oh shut up and just tell me.” She rolled her eyes.

A small smile spread across his face. “Same old Nat. Alright, well, you remember the Red Room right?” 

Natasha nodded, it was practically impossible to forget.

“So, I was the Winter Soldier. Which is probably the only way you remember me. Anyways, when I was still with Russia they had me train some of the Black Widows in the Red Room. Which is how we met…And uh…then we kind of fell in love?” Only he said it more as a question than a statement. “Then, you got kidnapped and all your memories of me were erased, which is why you don’t remember me.”

For a minute Natasha was silent, not sure if she could believe him. And even if she could, the fact that they were once in love was questionable. “I…I don’t fall in love.”

“Well, you did. You don’t have to believe me. I know what the truth is.” And then he was gone.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

James didn’t come back for a few days and Natasha wondered where he went. Where was he when he wasn’t here? Did he go to the cemetery? Did he just go around the city?

Of course she had other questions, mostly questions about her supposedly being in love with the ghost that frequented her apartment. 

There was a part of her, a big part, that said there was no way that she could’ve been in love with him. That although it could’ve been possible, it just wasn’t believable. There was then a small part of her that thought that there was a definite possibility that James could’ve been telling the truth.

It was a Wednesday evening, the lights of the city just starting to twinkle, when he came back. Natasha was cleaning her guns when he appeared again in her living room. 

“I was wondering when you’d come back.” She smiled faintly before looking back down at her guns. 

He shrugged and wandered around her apartment. “Have you thought about what I said?”

What kind of question was that? Did he think that she’d just forget all about it and go about her life as usual? As if you could just spring that on a person like no big deal.

“Of course I have, but it still doesn’t seem plausible. Just because I don’t remember you doesn’t mean anything. Maybe you’re just…confused.” Natasha stood up and went to touch his shoulder, trying to get him to stop walking around, before having her hand go through mid-air. 

That was never going to be normal.

When James turned around she took a few steps back, he looked frustrated. “What can I do to make you believe me?”

“Why does it matter so much? You’re dead!” Natasha all but shouted, throwing her hands in the air and turning her back to him. Only to have him come back in front of her.

“Because I want you to know. Because you deserve to know. I know this doesn’t make much sense, but since I’m here and you can see me…I might as well give it a shot.” 

Natasha sighed and went into the kitchen, her hands on the counter with her head looking down and eyes closed. It made no sense. “James, even if I did end up believing you, what difference is it going to make? We can’t be together. We’ll never be able to be together.” 

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

It was two weeks without seeing him. And then another two weeks. Weeks turned into months and there was no sign of James. No moved shoes or weapons. No notes. Nothing. 

And it was horrible. 

Natasha wondered if he’d even show up again or if he had just lost hope that she’d ever remember him. 

Soon, she didn’t think about him that much and life went on as semi-normal.

Until she came home to him in her living room. “I was starting to forget about you.” 

James just looked up at her with a barely there smile. “It wouldn’t have been the first time.”

That stung. “Are you mad at me for not remembering? Because I’m sorry. I would love to remember you, but there’s nothing there. Nothing.”

His posture relaxed and he nodded. “I know. I’m sorry. If…if you’d like me to, I can tell you some of the stories. At least you could have my memories then.”

Natasha sat down on the couch, smiling. “Go for it, lover boy.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for buckynat week 2015!  
> It's a one-shot, but I can write another chapter if people want me too!


End file.
